State v. Pullman

2013 UT App 168, 306 P.3d 827, 738 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2013 WL 3377434, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 163
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJuly 5, 2013
Docket20110212-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 2013 UT App 168 (State v. Pullman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Pullman, 2013 UT App 168, 306 P.3d 827, 738 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2013 WL 3377434, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 163 (Utah Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion

VOROS, Judge:

T1 Donald J. Pullman appeals from his convictions for one count of sodomy on a child and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, first degree felonies. See Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-5-408.1, -404.1 (Lex-isNexis 2012) 1 He contends (1) that the evidence presented was insufficient to support his conviction, (2) that the jury was improperly instructed, (8) that a definitional statute is unconstitutionally vague, (4) that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, and (5) that his trial counsel was ineffective. We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

BACKGROUND 2

I 2 Pullman began molesting Victim on her twelfth birthday and continued to do so weekly or biweekly for about a year. Specifically, Victim testified that Pullman regularly grabbed her breasts and buttocks, both over and under her clothing. On one occasion, Pullman attempted to engage in anal sex with Victim. At trial, Pullman's defense was that these events did not occur and that Victim had made up the events to retaliate against him. In fact, a defense witness testified that she asked Victim "why she was doing this" and that Victim responded that Pullman had not allowed her to attend a party and had called her a "slut."

1 3 Pullman was charged with one count of sodomy on a child and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, all first degree felonies. The jury convicted Pullman on all counts. He appeals.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

$4 First, Pullman contends that the evidence presented to the jury was insufficient to support his convictions. In addressing an insufficiency of the evidence claim, "we review the evidence and all inferences which may reasonably be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the verdict [and] reverse only when the evidence, so viewed, is sufficiently inconclusive ... that reasonable minds must have entertained a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime of which he was convicted." State v. Hamilton, 827 P.2d 232, 236 (Utah 1992) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

T5 Second, Pullman contends that a manifest injustice occurred in the drafting of a jury instruction. "Unless a party objects to an instruction or the failure to give an instruction, the instruction may not be assigned as error except to avoid a manifest injustice." Utah R.Crim. P. 19(e). Generally, "the term 'manifest injustice' is synonymous with the 'plain error' standard." State v. Casey, 2003 UT 55, ¶ 40, 82 P.3d 1106 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). "[To establish the existence of plain error and to obtain appellate relief from an alleged error that was not properly objected to, the appellant must show ... ()[aln error exists; (i) the error should have been obvious to the trial court; and (iii) the error is harmful." State v. Dunn, 850 P.2d 1201, 1208 (Utah 1993).

T6 Third, Pullman contends that Utah Code section 76-5-407, which defines what kind of touching satisfies the actus reus elements of various sexual offenses, is uncon *832 stitutional because it is "so broad as to include even lawful or appropriate contact." When preserved, "[wle review constitutional challenges for correctness." See State v. Manwaring, 2011 UT App 443, ¶ 12, 268 P.3d 201. However, claims not raised before the trial court generally may not be raised on appeal. State v. Holgate, 2000 UT 74, ¶ 11, 10 P.3d 346. This "preservation rule applies to every claim, including constitutional questions, unless a defendant can demonstrate that 'exceptional cireumstances' exist or 'plain error' occurred." Id. The exceptional cireumstances exception "applies primarily to rare procedural anomalies." Dunn, 850 P.2d at 1209 n. 3; see also State v. Irwin, 924 P.2d 5, 8 (Utah Ct.App.1996) (noting that the exception allows an appellate court to determine "that even though an issue was not raised below and even though the plain error doctrine does not apply, unique procedural cireumstances nonetheless permit consideration of the merits of the issue on appeal").

17 Fourth, Pullman contends that the trial court erred in admitting two pieces of evidence: (1) his prior conviction for lewdness and (2) testimony by his ex-wife that Pullman had repeatedly sought to engage in anal sex with her. He argues that this evidence should have been excluded under both rules 403 and 404 of the Utah Rules of Evidence. See Utah R. Evid. 408 (LexisNex-is 2012); id. R. 404. 3 "We review a trial court's decision to admit or exclude evidence under [rlule 403 ... under an abuse of discretion standard...." Diversified Holdings, LC v. Turner, 2002 UT 129, ¶ 6, 63 P.3d 686. Similarly, "we review a trial court's decision to admit evidence under rule 404(b) of the Utah Rules of Evidence under an abuse of discretion standard." State v. Nelson-Waggoner, 2000 UT 59, ¶ 16, 6 P.3d 1120. In doing so, we "review the record to determine whether the admission of other bad acts evidence was scrupulously examined by the trial judge in the proper exercise of that discretion." Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

T8 Fifth, Pullman contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial in relation to his jury instruction and admissibility of evidence claims. "An ineffective assistance of counsel claim raised for the first time on appeal presents a question of law." State v. Clark, 2004 UT 25, ¶ 6, 89 P.3d 162.

ANALYSIS

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

T9 Pullman first contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions because Victim's testimony "lacked specificity as to time, place, or circumstance." The heart of Pullman's complaint is that Victim did not testify as to the time or geographic location of the abusive acts. Victim testified that the events supporting the sodomy on a child charge occurred some time between August and November 2008. She also testified that Pullman groped her inappropriately onee every week or two between 2007 and 2008 and that this conduct occurred in Cedar City.

T10 Victim's testimony was sufficient on this point. Our supreme court noted in State v. Fulton that "time is not a statutory element of the offense" of sodomy on a child. 742 P.2d 1208, 1213 (Utah 1987). The Fulton court held that because the defendant had not "asserted a statute of limitations, age, or other analogous defense," the State was not required to prove the time of the offense. Id. Moreover, "the mere assertion of an alibi defense does not impose on the prosecution the additional burden of proving the precise date of the act." Id. Pullman has not asserted any of these defenses. The only elements of the offense at issue were whether Defendant touched Victim and with what intent; thus "the State did not need to prove the precise year in which the abuse occurred." See State ex rel. D.T., 2006 UT App 132, ¶ 13, 134 P.3d 1148 (citing State v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 UT App 168, 306 P.3d 827, 738 Utah Adv. Rep. 61, 2013 WL 3377434, 2013 Utah App. LEXIS 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pullman-utahctapp-2013.